The New Year is Coming...

 It has been an amazing year my dear friends! Filled with ups and downs and well mostly ups. So I wish you all a very blessed upcoming New Year and the hopes that we all have a good one, with good health, and good fortune!

Okay, on to what I wanted to share with you...

In early December, I received this huge ginormous vintage Rushton Papa bear from a fellow collector in Japan, who sent him directly to me from the seller in the States. She wanted me to restore BOB, her nickname for him. I was excited to see him. Because he was listed via Ebay and for a lot of money, but ended in whatever her offer was for him. So, honestly, I was planning on adopting him myself, but of course in the end we decided not too. Still it was nice to be able to have him with me and experience what it might be like to own him. He arrived quickly to me and I began to give him a spa while waiting for all the materials to come in that would make him the way this collector wanted him to be...

When he arrived on the left and right after work has been done...

Okay, when I started on Bob, he needed a good wash. I removed all his stuffing, which was pretty decent and no smells too. Washed him and laid him out to dry. He dried in about 2 days. Then, I began restuffing him. The first attempt, he was a bit skinny and I didn't notice it until I had began sewing his shoes. I had to wait for the felt fabric for his shoes, vest and coat to come in to begin anything. So Bob sat for 2 weeks. When the fabric came in, I had gotten a color for the jacket as close to the original jacket. But the collector wanted the jacket to be more of a mustard color or yellow. So, I had to order felt fabric in that color. While waiting for that, I had gotten the buttons to his vest and jacket also. After all the items to help restore him came in, I just simply used the original items as a pattern for the new jacket, vest and shoes.

By Friday just before Christmas day, I was done or so I thought. I sent photos and the collector, had some preferred changes in Bob's outcome. Oh my, I must admit I felt like I had done something wrong and not worthy of completing the commission. But, I listened and here is what I needed to change... 

One, he was still skinny and not chubby like the original. Two, his nose and hair was too dark. Three, his appliques for the shoes were a bit larger, and didn't quite look like the original. Four, his cheeks weren't pink enough, and I had put only 4 buttons on his vest instead of five. But in my mind it was because, there was only four to begin with. LOL I couldn't use the original buttons, because I couldn't take them off the original vest and jacket with out ruining them. The large button on the jacket were snap buttons and they are locked into the fabric, and the small buttons on the vest, had one missing and they had prongs on the other side to lock them onto the felt. If I pried them off, they may not be usable on the 2nd try. Ugh, the challenge!! Haha!

Mind you, it might have been someone else's Papa bear that she was going by. Which was fine and I completely understood why she wanted him that way. I found that I am the same, when we first see the vintage plush we fall in love with, we want them that way, because that is the one we fell in love with first. And for me, to create something she wanted, and the way she had wanted it, was a challenge I will admit. But definitely, this experience had become one that I needed to learn from. So, thank you to Alicemarket on IG for helping me to realize that challenges can be a good thing, and helpful in the long run. For myself, it was to realize what I could and couldn't do, no matter how one may try. Lesson learned.

In the end, Bob's jacket was a bit too yellow, but we had gone through 2 tries already. So I think she decided to just keep it that way. I did go back and lightened his nose and hair, and I found how to do that without using acrylic paints solely. Yay!! I learned something new!! Thank you challenges! Added more pink blush to Bob, and tried my best to add more stuffing too. It was pretty hard to do. You see, Bob was stuffed with all of his own stuffing, but he didn't look chubby. I had to massage the stuffing around his face more and head, I had to unsew one shoe to take out all the stuffing and restuff again and add more stuffing to his body. If I took a pic of him sideways you could see he was chubby, but because of the way I had massaged the stuffing into him as you see him from in front, he looked like he was still a bit skinny. LOL I couldn't add any more stuffing, mainly because his seams would start to rip, and I didn't want that.

Interesting how fabric can sort of handle some stress, but then not at all. In the end, Bob was done and I shipping him to his Mommy just yesterday. It was a great experience and definitely one I have learned from. Bob stood about 26 inches tall, and weighed about 8lbs. I added cardboard to the underside of his shoes to help him have more stability, while standing. His black tie is original to him. All the buttons and buckles matched as closely to his original ones and I also gave Alice back his original clothing as well. He will definitely be a great addition to her growing Rushton collection!!

 Whew! Is all I can say! Adios Bob! Enjoy being loved for another 50 years or so!!

 Thank you for reading! ~ ggsdolls